Dresden’s Kupferstich-Kabinett (Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs) is a museum in which the world is at home; it is a place to look, learn and enjoy. What is more, it is one of the world’s most prominent art museums for drawings, prints and photographs. This “museum of masterpieces“ holds world-famous drawings and prints by Dürer, van Eyck, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Fragonard and Caspar David Friedrich, as well as works by Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and Baselitz. Engravings by Schongauer and woodcuts by Cranach are found alongside rare specimens from the history of artistic photography.
The significance of the Kupferstich-Kabinett (Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs) lies in the high quality and in some cases the uniqueness of the artistic drawings, watercolours and gouaches, etchings, lithographs and engravings, illustrated books and portfolios, as well as photographic art, that make up its holdings. The wealth of the collection is utterly incalculable. It comprises works by the most famous artists from numerous countries, amounting altogether to around 515,000 works by more than 20,000 artists covering eight centuries. The spectrum of themes is inexhaustible. There are profane and Biblical motifs, portraits, landscapes and still lifes, as well as historic depictions of courtly festivities and scientific illustrations. Works from among the abundant holdings of the Kupferstich-Kabinett (Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs) and items on loan from international museum partners are presented in changing exhibitions in the museum’s own display rooms in the Residenzschloss (Royal Palace). If that is not sufficient, visitors can view originals close-up in the publicly accessible study hall – a place to look, learn and enjoy.
Kupferstich-Kabinett (Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs) is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) that are among the most prominent museums in the world. The combined holdings of the twelve museums offer the visitor a remarkable thematic diversity. These museums originated from the collections of the Saxon electors and Polish kings. They systematically developed cabinets of curiosities, which were accessible to select circles in their day and still form the core of the wonderful art treasures of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden today. The collections are situated in world famous buildings such as the Residenzschloss (Royal Palace), the Zwinger, and the Semperbau (Semper Building), which are among the most important sights in Dresden.